Top 5 tips to boost your OneDrive into overdrive

Having a tool that works for you and keeps working for you is the best kind of tool. That’s how OneDrive is built from the ground up (into the Cloud 😊). And it delivers a consistent experience to you for all your files in Office 365 – across all your devices. OneDrive is the files app for Microsoft 365 enabling people to access all their shared content across Microsoft 365, inclusive of SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, in addition to their personal files.

“Access, share, and collaborate on all your files from anywhere.” – OneDrive.

OneDrive gives you access to your personal work files and files shared across your team in SharePoint and Microsoft Teams (OneDrive on iOS [left], OneDrive web in Office 365 [right]).

You can easily share files inside and outside your organization and work together on them at the same time (co-authoring FTW!). Intelligent search and recommendations help you find files quickly, so you can spend more time getting things done rather than recreating work. OneDrive also integrates with Microsoft Flow to help with review cycles, PDF conversions and more. As part of Microsoft 365, your files are protected from accidental loss and malicious attacks.

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Let’s boost your OneDrive into overdrive. Let’s dive into the top five tips!

OneDrive sync client (PC & Mac)

With OneDrive, you can sync files between your computer and the cloud, so you can get to your files from anywhere. You can work with your synced files directly in File Explorer and/or Finder – including being able to access your files when you’re offline. Whenever you’re online, any changes that you or others make will sync automatically.

Control the amount of space OneDrive files take on your computer and conserves bandwidth during sync processes. And select which folders sync per device.

Microsoft invests heavily to bring robust sync value and with Files On-Demand technology, people are able to work with all their files in the familiar experience of Windows Files Explorer and Mac Finder without taking up storage space on their PC or Mac. You will see all the files you have access to, and they take up 0 storage space until you commit to opening the file (where it is then brought down locally from the cloud) or select “Always keep on this device” to have a file or folder always in sync and available offline. Files On-Demand works with files and folders across your OneDrive content, and those files and folders you choose to sync from SharePoint and Microsoft Teams.

Files On-Demand (FoD) allows people to browse and manage their files in OneDrive and SharePoint Online team sites without always using up disk space.

Co-author in Word, Excel or PowerPoint to work together on the same file in real-time. This is a game changer for improving teamwork. OneDrive supports co-authoring documents using the Office Online AND Office mobile apps AND desktop Office clients for Windows.

You can create files and folders in OneDrive to help you organize your files. You create Office files directly in OneDrive Web or from Office desktop and mobile apps. And you can easily share OneDrive files as links via Outlook and @mention people in Office documents to bring them into the action.

And no matter whether your collaborators have Office, or not, they can view and work on your files via the Web without worry when you share with them. Office truly is integrated with OneDrive to offer you the best productive and collaborative experiences.

Our top-rated mobile apps give people access to files while on the go – including capture scans, photos and documents from the world around them. Use the Office mobile apps to stay productive and work together, no matter where you are. The OneDrive app for Windows, iOS & Android lets you easily work with your personal and work files when you're on the go – keeping context and security intact as you switch between.

Wherever you go with Microsoft OneDrive, get to and share your documents, photos, and other files from your devices.

We offer the ability for people to preview over 300+ different file types including Adobe formats, 3-D and DICOM Medical Images to name a few all without needing an installed application. And we continue to add more. See and find what you’re looking for much fast – both as a thumbnail and as a preview in Web when you click into a file.

OneDrive thumbnails and preview via the browser help you quickly scan through files and find what you are looking for without needing to download and open files.

Protect your important known folders. Known folders are global pointers in Windows representing a location on a person’s drive. They help organize important files and access them across different applications. Known Folder Move (KFM) helps you move your Documents, Desktop, and Pictures folders into OneDrive – into the cloud. Even the Screenshots and Camera Roll folders are included when the Picture folder has opted into KFM. And for IT, it is possible to include KFM in group policy to help smooth the overall move of files off desktops and into the cloud. And once in the cloud, the files experience of all the capabilities above become available. Thus, allowing you to access them anywhere from other devices, even if you lose your PC. The user experience on your desktop remains intact, now with extra boost from OneDrive.

User content is automatically synced with no disruption to productivity when moving content from the Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders to OneDrive.

The easiest way to ensure you’re getting the value, security and ability to work from any device, with anyone, from anywhere, requires you to first get your content into OneDrive. To make that easier we created a new OneDrive landing page within docs.microsoft.com. And after deployment, we have helpful user training as well as developer guidance. And then, it’s boosting time!

You’ll find a ubiquitous experience no matter what platform you are using from Mac and Windows to iOS and Android. One experience for all your files across viewing, sharing, co-authoring, syncing and more.